<p>Jerzgrlmom, I do understand that AP results have no affect on college admissions,but she was hoping to place out of some liberal arts requirements so that she could take other more "desireable" visual arts courses.</p>
<p>Also congrats on your daughter's admissions. Syracuse, RIT and even CMU do place a lot of emphasis on portfolios and GPAs. </p>
<p>As far as our highschool placement rate, I really don't know what that rate is for each AP course. I would imagine, however, that it is pretty good since she is in one of the top 20 rated high schools by US News and World Report and she is in a magnet program in that high school.</p>
<p>I have to admit that this whole process has left a very sour taste in both my and my daughter's mouth. She has a college institute program there where students can take courses in the local junior college for credit as long as they get admitted to the program ( which requires a 3.6 overall GPA and at least 550 on each part of the SAT). I have seriously encouraged her to stop taking AP courses and to beef up her college institute electives. At least a "C" in a college institute course will transfer to other colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread, Yulsie! I wouldn't have remembered to have checked my AP scores if I hadn't happened to have been on CC today. Also, thanks SchoolTime for the tip about customer service; I misplaced my AP booklet and customer service was absolutely great about giving me my AP number!</p>
<p>taxguy,
Getting credit for liberal arts classes would have been helpful so I can see why you're (both) disappointed. In a BFA program, the students don't have many electives so bypassing some of the required core classes would certainly provide more opportunities. </p>
<p>My d took a class last yr at a local college but since it was in her major, she's not sure she wants to skip to the next level. Actually, I'm not sure if her school will accept it, since most schools want you to take your major classes at their school. I suggested she take Eng or History or something this summer so she can ease up her schedule next yr (18 credits/quarter) but as HS graduation approached, she was so bogged down with AP & Honors papers and projects that she wouldn't even consider summer classes. She kept asking when senior yr was going to be "fun." Sure is a different environment these days than when I was in school. She was just glad she was exempt from final exams (had to have an A for the yr). </p>
<p>You might want to contact some of your d's prospective college/art schools and see if they recommend taking college classes. Some schools limit how many credits they will accept. Some we asked wouldn't accept community college credits. Some would consider you a transfer student if you had more than a certain # (maybe 11?). I think I read somewhere that RIT considered you a transfer student if you took even one class after graduation.</p>
<p>Good luck. Every college we visited stressed to take the most challenging classes available so even though she didn't "test well", she still's ahead in the long run.</p>
<p>Son got his scores: 5's in Gov./Bio/English Lit. I am shocked because on the morning of the bio test, he had an accident in the rain that required a police report and he was fairly late to the test and pretty shaken up. Science is not his thing and I thought he'd be lucky to get a 3. Also, he only managed a 4 his junior year on the English test, and he was much more focused then (senioritis took over his last semester)! He's so happy that he gets to waive some intro classes at Berkeley and move on to more interesting course work. I'm happy that the last of high school testing is over, over, over!</p>
<p>Why do so many people, particularly underclassman, feel compelled to get these by phone? I am probably showing my Scottish roots, but I say wait a couple weeks and put the eight dollars in the college fund. (As my mother always said, if you look after the pennies, the dollars will look after themselves. Or something like that.)</p>
<p>1moremom, I do agree with you. The only reason that I spent the money was that my daughter's birthday was in the beginning of July and thought it would make a great extra birthday gift. Instead, it was the booby prize. I certainly wasted my money in both asking for the grades and in having my daughter take the tests. I can assure you, this won't happen again.</p>
<p>1moremom, in my son's case (graduated senior), his college allows him to skip a summer essay-writing exam if he scores a 5 on one of the AP English exams. The last day to sign up for the exam is in early July, before the published date when scores will be mailed. So, to avoid signing up to take an exam this summer which he may have placed out of, he spent the $8. No pride thing involved, quite practical.</p>
<p>(PS: He passed, and does not need to take the summer exam. The $8 was well spent.)</p>
<p>I understand about the new freshman who are in the process of testing and registering for classes; it's the younger ones I don't get. I can't help thinking it's one more example of the need for instant gratification that is fueling today's extraordinary level of credit card debt.</p>
<p>Taxguy, I'm sorry. Maybe this will help you soften the blow when the envelope comes. :(</p>
<p>I'm a parent and have no particular excuse for flinging the $8 at collegeboard! My son was hoping for a 5 on chemistry to let him into honors chemistry UChicago - and he's got it. Ah, well, at least I don't play the lottery.</p>
<p>ohio-mom, your son did not need a 5 to get into honors chem at Chicago, but it makes it easier. Hope he enjoys the class. My D like it this past year. It had a good dose of higher level chem. If you have other Uchi questions, feel free to send me a private message.</p>
<p>I didn't want to fork over the $8 (one of so many forkfuls we've tossed ETS's way over the years) but S is leaving tomorrow for orientation at Cal and will sign up for classes while there. He needed the scores for placement purposes.</p>
<p>I offered to spend the $8 but my D thinks it is a stupid waste of money and refuses to call. I guess she isn't into the instant gratification someone talked about above. Between two kids, I have paid for 4 PSATs, at least 5 SATs, 11 SAT2s, and 16 AP tests, along with who knows how many "10 Real SATs" and "Real SAT2" books, additional score reports sent to colleges, and who knows what all else, from the College Board. If I added up the cost of all of those things, I would probably get sick. I guess I should be happy I am not forking over the final $8 !!!</p>
<p>Although I am not a parent I have something to say on this (and since I am a former high school student (Yay!!! :)), I think I have some really good insight). I really believe a large factor in the grade is most definately the teacher. My school (Ridge High School in NJ) while having some horrendous teachers does have a good amount of excellent teachers.
Let me give you an anecdote. My physics teacher for Physics C is extremely notorious for being an extremely hard (but also really good teacher). A rare breed of students are the only ones who ever get every question right on his tests. His tests are extremely challenging that I believe require even more thinking than the APs do. Throughout the year I got 1 semester of a C+, 2 of a B- and this last semester as a B. The month before AP tests he started giving us real tests almost everyday (and going over them the next couple days) as well as free response for homework. He would then consequently grade them. Me, like my fellow students, would see continuous improvement. Then it comes time for the actual AP test. The material on that test was not only familiar (from taking the practice tests), but was at a notch lower than the work he required us to do. Resultingly I received a 4 in both E&M and Mechanics. He literally overprepared us and I believe it helped me in the long run.</p>
<p>Hopkinslax, You may have hit upon something. My daughter's history teachers, although very good, did NOT go over past exams. They felt that they had a hard enough time going over the material contained in the text. This might have made a difference as to why my daughter didn't get a 3 in either NSL or World History. I don't know. However, it is a possible explanation.</p>
<p>taxguy,
having familiarity with the form of the beastly tests is important - especially if one is prone to test anxiety. Sorry your D got the raw end of the deal on it.</p>
<p>(taxguy, no negativity is intended by the following):</p>
<p>You might consider consulting a private college counselor about how to handle the AP scores in the admissions process - either the wonderful counselors here on CC, or locally in the Rockville area (PM me for an excellent local referral if you are interested). </p>
<p>AP scores are like SAT IIs in the app - if there are a good number of them and the scores are high, it helps, if the scores are lower it hurts.</p>
<p>She can't really say in the app "I am brilliant but I freeze up on tests" even if both statements are quite true, because the adcoms would think about all of the tests and exams in college and worry about her performance. Probably best to not submit the scores at all, but they will probably wonder why she didn't take the tests - that is probably the lesser problem.</p>
<p>I'm so sorry she had a bad experience - I'm sure she is upset, since she attends a very competitive HS. </p>
<p>To the tune of "Edelweiss" - </p>
<p>"College Board, College Board, evil monopoly reeking
College Board, College Board, you will have us all shrieking!"</p>
<p>Our family is DONE with the college board until the GREs or MCAT, thank God!</p>
<p>Yulsie, that was a nice analogy to Edelweiss. I ended up humming it.
Since she "failed" every AP test she took, and I still am in disbelief over that, no scores will be sent to the colleges. I guess they can wonder why no scores will be sent.</p>
<p>A know group of kids from a local high school (not where S attended) who got together and formed an AP study group based on a couple of old text books and the AP prep books one can buy at a bookstore. They studied AP Chem, Calc, & History. All got at least a 4 many 5's. What is interesting is their school did not offer any AP courses. I'm not sure how important the actual class really is.</p>